A household appliance, such as a dishwasher, includes a housing having a washing container for washing crockery therein. The washing container commonly includes a plurality of crockery baskets for holding the crockery to be washed. The washing container includes one or more spray devices for wetting the crockery to be washed. The household appliance includes a door that provides access to the washing container in the interior of the appliance housing. The door commonly is pivotable about a horizontal axis at the lower part of the door.
The door may be supported, for example on each side, by a rope or cable connected to a horizontal spring inside the housing. A hinge pulley and a transmission element commonly are provided to transmit the horizontal movement of the spring into vertical force applied to the door, thereby assisting in the movement of the door from the open position to the closed position, and vice versa.
As illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12C, a conventional hinge pulley 1 commonly includes a first housing part 10 and a second housing part 12 coupled together to support a rotating pulley wheel 14 therebetween. As shown in FIGS. 12A-12C and 13, in an assembled state, a portion of a transmission element 18, such as a rope or cable, rests under tension on the pulley wheel 14 and wraps around a portion of the pulley wheel 14. Another portion of the transmission element 18 rests under tension on an upper bearing surface 16 of the first housing part 10 and wraps around a portion of the bearing surface 16. The transmission element 18 commonly includes a first end that is fastened to a tension spring, which in turn is coupled to the housing of the appliance, and a second end that is coupled to the door of the appliance. During operation, the transmission element 18 is guided by the rotating pulley wheel 14 and the upper bearing surface 16 as the door is opened or closed.
As shown in FIG. 13, the dishwasher can include a setting screw 15 that contacts a bearing surface of the hinge pulley for adjusting the spring tension of the hinge pulley, for example, for doors having different weights, decor panels, etc.